


Hopeless Hanyou

by Anonymous



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Blind Inuyasha, Good Hearing Inuyasha, Hurt Inuyasha, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Inuyasha, Inu no Taishou is a good Grandpa, Master/Slave, Parental Sesshoumaru, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Sesshomaru is a good Master
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25777303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Blind and terrified Inuyasha is rescued from Naraku by Sesshomaru. Naraku placed a black magic curse on the boy which forces Sesshomaru to change himself in order to take care of his poor child hanyou slave. Can Sesshomaru change his ways and protect the young hanyou from everyone who wants to take him from him? Spoiler alert, he can. Sesshomaru does in fact have a soft side and Inuyasha is the one that brings it out. Inuyasha gains a family to care for him.
Relationships: InuYasha & Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58
Collections: anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

Sesshomaru did not like the aura that was permeating the air around the castle. There was a stagnant aura that carried the stench of blood both human and demon through the air. The night was just beginning to fall and sun was setting behind the lavish forest. The castle was located on a cliff high above. The aura must have been from the forest at the base of the castle.

Sesshomaru wondered who would be stupid enough to try to commence so much chaos outside the immense castle. Clearly the fools were not going to get away with their insolent behavior. Sesshomaru stifled a low growl. The scent of human blood made his own blood boil as his youkai flashed with rage. How dare the stupid humans and low demons disrespect the Western Castle. He waited patiently since he knew his father would most likely send someone for him. There was no need for Lord Inu no Taisho to deal with something as frivolous as this.

Sesshomaru just wanted to go down there and slay them all himself for their outlandish behavior. He knew better than to rush in and kill them all. The throne was to be his someday. His father had always lectured him on his flaring temper. Inu no Taisho would go on and on about the importance of being a just and calm ruler and not letting the power get to you. Sesshomaru knew he was above them all and he knew that they knew it too. He lived for the fear and the uncertainty of his sheer power.

Sesshomaru was interrupted from his thoughts as a knock sounded from his chamber doors. With a wicked smile he growled. "Enter."

He could feel the fear dripping off of the servant. "S-sir. Lord Inu no Taisho requests your presence in the council room." Before he could finish his sentence, the young Lord had already walked by him. The servant shuddered and let out a sigh, grateful that the Lord did not hurt him.

All of the servants in the house knew that Sesshomaru had a rough temper. They all knew not to cross him and not to interrupt him. Countless of servants were killed at the hands of Sesshomaru for all different reasons. The last servant that was killed was beheaded for spilling a drink and a drop landed on his robes. The servant shuddered and ran back to his courters.

Sesshomaru entered the council room and gazed upon his father who was situated in a large chair. That chair would be his someday. The thought excited Sesshomaru a little bit as his aura flared a bit.

"Sesshomaru, you have to learn to control that. You also have to wait till I am dead before you can sit here." Inu no Taisho muttered as he paid no mind to the aura his son was giving off. He knew that his son had a lot of temperament issues that he would need to work out before he could even rule. The boy was 1013 and still acted as if he was 100 sometimes with his temper tantrums.

"Do you want me to resolve the issue at the base of the castle, father?" There was a twinge of malice at the end of the sentence. Inu no Taisho knew that the attitude came from the boy's mother. She was insufferable sometimes and so was his son. Neither of them had an ounce of compassion for anything that wasn't royalty.

"Yes, but I do not want you to kill them all. I am very confused why something is happening so close to the castle. People know their boundaries." It was true. People were not dumb enough to go anywhere near the castle. What was happening at the base was something that occurred maybe once every hundred years or so. The last commotion was due to a massive fire that took out the majority of the forest two hundred years ago.

Sesshomaru nodded. As he went to leave the room, he heard his father call him. "Sesshomaru. I want you to please watch first before you decide to do anything." Sesshomaru scoffed at the ludicrous idea.

His father emitted a large flare of his youki. Sesshomaru pretended to act as if it did not bother him even though he felt the power jostle his bones. "That is an order." His father growled.

Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder and nodded slightly before jumping out the window and flying down to the base of the mountain.

At the base he perched himself up on a high tree a little bit off from all the yelling and screaming. He could see demons with torches standing by a cart up ahead. It must have been a slave cart. It was turned over and there were dead humans and demons inside of the bars. Sesshomaru thought nothing of it. It wasn't unusual to see a slave cart. What really caught his eye was the appearance of Naraku near a royal carriage ordering his soldiers to search the woods for something.

Naraku was a well-known bastard Lord. He did not have a great deal of power, but he was known for his experimentations with magic and using demons as his subjects. Sesshomaru had met him a couple of times and every time he did, he wanted to punch the smug look that he always had on his face. Naraku looked angry, well more angry than usual.

What was it that he could be trying to find so desperately? Sesshomaru made sure to hide his own youki to try to avoid undetected within the trees. He heard rustling on the ground below and saw something crawling on the ground below. It looked like a child. There was a strong scent of blood. The blood was a strange scent that Sesshomaru did not recognize and it intrigued him. When the child removed his arms from the top of his head that was when he saw the dog ears.

 _He is a hanyou?_ Hanyous were very rare in this area because of their lack of power. They were the lowest of the low in the demon and the human world yet some of them were extremely valuable on the black market. The ones that were often desired the most were the ones that still had human traits to them. People wanted them for their crude sexual acts mainly. This hanyou appeared to be human except for his hair, claws, and those ridiculous dog ears.

Was the hanyou what Naraku and his men were looking for? Sesshomaru looked at the hanyou closer. It appeared that the boy could not walk. He had two large thorns about two inches in diameter piercing both of his little feet. From the looks of them, the thorns were not fresh wounds. They must have been used to try to limit his mobility. Was the hanyou running away from the group?

Sesshomaru was still puzzled at why the boy was struggling to feel around on the ground. The hanyou stopped for a second before he craned his head to look up to the exact area that Sesshomaru was standing. It was impossible. He had masked his aura. Sesshomaru gasped slightly when he looked into the hanyou's eyes. They were split open and milky. Someone must have blinded him so severely that it could not heal.

At the sound of Sesshomaru's gasp the hanyou tilted his head in confusion. Then he forcibly shook his head to snap himself out of it and tried to feel around to crawl behind something to hide.

Sesshomaru was honestly confused at what was going on before him. He was so intrigued by the hanyou despite his disgusting nature. What had the child been through to get him in this condition? What was so special about him that Naraku was risking himself in the royal forest trying to catch the dirty hanyou?

Then Sesshomaru felt a surge of Naraku's youki and before he knew it he heard a stifled scream as the hanyou was convulsing on the ground in agony. It didn't add up. How could an aura do something like that? Hanyous weren't that powerless that the aura would affect them in such a way.

Naraku started to follow the choked screams and continued to let out more of his aura which made the boy convulse even more. It looked as if the boy was possessed or being struck by lightning. The stronger the energy got, the more the boy appeared to be in pain.

A light bulb went off in Sesshomaru's head. _No…it can't be…could it?_

Sesshomaru had heard of such a phenomenon in one of his lessons. There were many slave practices that were outlawed hundreds of years ago because of how barbaric they were. Even though the life of a slave was not something to brag about now, slaves still were mandated to have basic rights.

There was a method of controlling slaves beforehand that linked them with their masters. It was a form of blood magic that formed a bond between the master's energy and the slave and their pain. If the slave was not pleasing his master, then with the simple release of frustration the slave would be subdued by increments of electric shock. They were long since outlawed and any that practiced it were sentenced to be executed.

That was why Naraku had gone out of his way to find the stupid hanyou. If anyone had known of Naraku's magic practices he would be ordered to be executed. He was trying to save his ass.

There was an unknown feeling rising in his chest as he saw the blinded hanyou writhing in pain on the forest floor. Concern. It was something that Sesshomaru had never felt before. The poor hanyou was just a child. A helpless child that was suffering so much in front of him.

Below him Naraku had finally found the boy huddled on the forest floor. He grabbed the hanyou by the hair and lifted him off of the ground.

"You stupid whore. What makes you think you can get away from me you worthless piece of shit?" Naraku laughed as he let out more of his youkai and the hanyou writhed in pain.

Sesshomaru was continuing to connect the dots. The young boy must have been Naraku's sex slave as well. Sesshomaru fought the urge to let the anger overcome him. It was disgusting how someone could take advantage of someone that young.

Naraku threw the boy on the ground and pulled out a knife. "You will suffer for your crimes whore before I take you back to my castle."

The blinded boy was hyperventilating. His ears were flicking around trying to figure out what was going to happen to him. Naraku grabbed one of his ears and the boy tried to scream but it came out as a choked sob. Naraku took the knife and sliced through the boy's ear. The hanyou cried and tried to scream in pain.

That was when Sesshomaru saw the collar. He was right. By the looks of it he also must have been using it to stop the boy from speaking. Sesshomaru watched as Naraku kicked the boy. Blood stained the boy's long silver hair as his ear hung limp in two different pieces. What Sesshomaru did not expect next was the boy to look upwards with tears in his milky eyes. Looking almost dead on at Sesshomaru, almost begging for his help.

Sesshomaru had enough of this. There were so many emotions that were fighting each other as he saw the injured boy look at him. A fire sparked within him as he jumped off the tree and landed behind Naraku. The hanyou had heard him before Naraku was even aware that Sesshomaru was behind him. Milky white eyes looked past Naraku at Sesshomaru and the hanyou smiled a bit.

"Naraku." Sesshomaru growled as he let his angry aura slip from him. Naraku jumped and turned around to face the young Lord.

"M-my Lord." Naraku hastily tried to give Sesshomaru a bow but Sesshomaru cut him off.

"Save it Naraku. I am intrigued why you are so close to the castle and have the audacity to make yourself at home in this forest. Did you think us so low not to detect your presence?" Sesshomaru looked at him ruthlessly. He was ready to sink his claws into the bastard.

"N-no my Lord I apologize. I was just trying to get my worthless slave that escaped from me." Naraku gave off some energy unintentionally and the boy writhed in pain. "I did not mean disrespect." 

Sesshomaru looked at the hanyou. He could tell that the boy was feverish and severely malnourished. The condition of the kid was deplorable. The kid did not look older than a 110 year old demon, but judging by his hanyou background, he must have been younger.

He then noticed that the boy's good ear twitched which signaled that something was approaching. He then felt his father's slight energy. He must have been wondering what was taking so long. Inu no Taisho did not make an appearance though. He must have been watching from above because the hanyou looked up into the trees.

The kid didn't really seem to miss anything that was going on around him despite having lost his vision. His hearing must have been better than Sesshomaru's because he did not even hear his father coming.

"Well now that I have him, I will take my worthless slave and just get going." Naraku made his move towards the hanyou but Sesshomaru was faster and stood between the hanyou and Naraku.

"I don't think so." Sesshomaru growled and he could sense the hanyou trying to back away from him. He was terrified by the growl.

"But my Lord. He belongs to me." Naraku eyed him evilly. The smug look still sprawled across his face.

"Yes, I am quite aware of that. I am also aware of the black magic that you have placed on this hanyou." Sesshomaru gave Naraku an icy stare.

He noticed Naraku pale at the discovery of his dirty deeds.

"What is it that you want my Lord?" Naraku asked. He was terrified that the temper filled young Lord was going to execute him on the spot.

"I want the hanyou." Sesshomaru surprised himself with the declaration. There was something about the boy that made him want him so badly. He was curious about him and his capabilities.

Naraku looked as if someone had slapped him. Sesshomaru over his shoulder could see that at the declaration the hanyou's mouth had dropped. He also heard the snapping of twigs up above which suggested that the declaration had surprised his father so much that he must've fell over.

"W-what?!" Naraku exclaimed. "My Lord the hanyou is dirty and worthless!"

"Yet you want him so badly." Sesshomaru did not let his gaze falter.

The hanyou was starting to hyperventilate behind him. Something must have been going on with Naraku's energy that was giving the poor little hanyou pain.

Naraku's eyes darkened. "I am surprised that you are not slaying me where I stand for my use of black magic. It goes against the law of your land."

Sesshomaru still with his eyes on him scoffed. "Do not take me for a fool Naraku. I may not know how black magic works but I am not stupid enough to endanger the hanyou's life. Killing you and severing that bond may wind up killing him as well."

Lord Inu no Taisho was beside himself. He had no idea what the hell happened to his son in the past forty minutes but the demon that was down there was not him. He was showing concern for a hanyou? He didn't kill anyone? He was using his brain and not acting out of violence? He was not full of blind rage?

HE WAS SHOWING CONCERN FOR A HANYOU?

Taisho felt as if his heart was going to give out. He had no idea what to make out of any of it. He thought he would never see the day that his son would want a hanyou slave anywhere near him.

Naraku smirked. "Very well then. You may have my slave." With the wave of his hand he walked in the opposite direction of Sesshomaru.

It was way too easy. Sesshomaru knew that had to be some sort of a catch for why Naraku was willing to let the hanyou go. He couldn't worry about that now. He watched as Naraku disappeared with his soldiers from the forest.

Sesshomaru turned to face the hanyou who looked absolutely terrified. Sesshomaru didn't know if it was because he was afraid of Sesshomaru or he knew something was going to happen to him.

Sesshomaru stood in front of the trembling hanyou and whispered to him in a voice that was barely audible to Sesshomaru's own ears. He did not want his father to hear what he had to say.

"I know that your hearing is incredible. The man that is in the trees is my father and I don't want him to hear what I have to say." Sesshomaru paused and the hanyou gave a very subtle nod that he heard what he was saying. It was absolutely incredible. The hanyou swallowed heavily still trembling.

"Can you talk hanyou?" The hanyou flinched at the word "hanyou", but shook his head in a slight no. "Is it because of the collar?" The hanyou nodded slightly.

"I want to take you in as my personal slave. I am sorry at the way you were treated beforehand." The hanyou started to cry at those words. He had no idea what was going on. He knew that Naraku still had power over him because of the collar. He knew that the collar could not come off.

"Is something wrong?" The hanyou nodded while still crying.

"Is it because of the collar?" Yet again the hanyou nodded. "Is it going to hurt you now that Naraku is gone?" The hanyou nodded again while crying harder.

Inu no Taisho jumped down from his perch in the trees. "Sesshomaru what the hell is going on?" He made a move to approach the hanyou but the hanyou started crying even harder trying to flinch away from him. Taisho stood still and did not make a move to go further.

"Nothing father. Everything is under control." Sesshomaru said in a calm voice.

It was the calmest voice that Taisho had ever heard his son mutter. Why was he acting this way?

Sesshomaru was trying his best to control his voice in order to not upset the hanyou even more. He figured that the hanyou had problems with reacting to demon auras. He walked towards the hanyou and the hanyou flinched a little bit more but not nearly as much as he did when Taisho tried to approach him.

Sesshomaru smirked a little. In another barely audible whisper, he asked. "Is it alright if I pick you up? I really doubt you can walk with those thorns through your feet." The hanyou nodded.

The boy was so confused. Why was this man being so kind to him? He didn't deserve this treatment. The man had said that he truly wanted to be his new master. He was afraid to know what that entailed. Naraku-sama was an evil master. He thought he heard the other man call his new master Sesshomaru.

For the twentieth time that night Taisho was completely taken aback by what his son did next. He had saw the blind hanyou nod at Sesshomaru even though he had not spoken. His son then scooped the injured child into his arms. Sesshomaru did not seem to mind the hanyou blood staining his clothing, which was shocking. Taisho had heard that his son beheaded someone for a drop of juice on his robes, yet he was fine being covered in hanyou blood?

Sesshomaru felt the trembling boy in his arms tense up and grab onto the Lord's robes as if he was terrified that he was going to be dropped. "Shh…calm down little one. I got you…" He barely breathed out.

He saw the hanyou's good ear twitch and the boy smile slightly before he fell unconscious in his arms. He was so light and Sesshomaru could feel almost all of his bones.

Sesshomaru walked past his father and then stopped slightly looking over his shoulder at the Demon King's dropped jaw. "Are you coming or what father? The hanyou needs a medic." With that said he took off from the ground leaving his astounded father behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Sesshomaru walked into one of the many guest rooms within the castle. This one, however it was closest to the Princes quarters. The room was a hallway away from Sesshomaru's room. Inu no Taisho was still in shock from everything that had happened. He was also confused why Sesshomaru had picked a room so close to his very own. 

Sesshomaru gently placed the hanyou on the bed before summoning a servant to go and get Yasahiro, the demon doctor of the castle. He was a small man that was kind and knowledgeable. He also had a kind aura that most likely would not startle the hanyou any further which was a good thing. Sesshomaru placed a blanket over the shivering hanyou that was still unconscious. He noticed that the sheets around the poor child were beginning to be covered in blood. 

Sesshomaru was also littered with the hanyous blood, though he didn't seem to mind. He gave one last look at the hanyou before he decided to go back to his own chambers to change and to get rid of the blood. He mainly needed time to think. This all was moving just on instinct for him. An instinct that he did not know was there. It was strange for him to actually have some sort of care for anything. 

He ignored his father and walked past him. Inu no Taisho figured that his son needed the alone time so he said nothing. As Sesshomaru left, Inu no Taisho made his way over to the bed and sat down beside the hanyou. 

"I have no idea why my son has latched himself to you, and frankly I don't care." He sighed as he lightly brushed the hanyou's bangs out of his closed eyes. "In one short hour you have managed to get into Sesshomaru's world of his. You have infiltrated it and you don't even know you have. He has never showed care for anything in his entire life. You are the first thing he has shown a little compassion for." 

Inu no Taisho continued to observe the hanyou. "You must have suffered greatly to have a collar like that. You are so young as well. I hope that we can in fact help you, young one." 

The hanyou was still lost to the world as Yasahiro walked into the room. "My Lord, I have been summoned here." 

"Yes Yasahiro, please examine and care of our troubled guest." Inu no Taisho got off the bed and debated again whether or not he should go after Sesshomaru. He then thought against it and moved to an armchair on the other side of the room. Sesshomaru needed time to think things out for himself. If Inu no Taisho were to push anything further with Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru would most likely distance himself from the hanyou to avoid the new protectiveness he had of it. 

"A hanyou?" Yasahiro questioned, but moved closer to the bed and set his doctor's bag down. "I wonder what you have been through my sweet child." 

  
  


Sesshomaru entered his chambers and beckoned to the servant outside the door to prepare the bath for him. He walked into his room only to be greeted by the person he wanted to see the least, Jaken. 

"MY LORD!" Jaken screamed as he ran into the room screaming. He then looked at Sesshomaru's bloody clothes and launched himself onto his leg. "MY LORD ARE YOU INJURED! NO! MY LORD!" Jaken continued to scream and continued to grab Sesshomaru's leg. 

Sesshomaru's aura darkened. "Get. Off." Jaken whimpered and promptly let go of the young Lord before he was killed. 

"B-but My Lord, are you inured?" Jaken cautiously asked. Jaken was Sesshomaru's servant. A position that Sesshomaru never wanted the imp to fill, yet his father had thought it necessary. He found the imp insufferable. 

"No. Now leave my chambers." Sesshomaru pushed past the imp and into the bath that connected his room. There was a large pool that mimicked a hot spring. There was a small water fall and plants. It was a peaceful place. There were servants waiting to help him strip and to bathe him. They shed his clothing gracefully and he slipped into the warm water. 

_What am I supposed to do with a blind and crippled hanyou? Not only that, he is just a child as well._ One of the servant girls began to wash his long hair. Sesshomaru sighed and tilted his head back and allowed himself to relax a bit. 

_There is no doubt in my mind that Naraku used the child for his crude sexual acts. Yet, the child is not completely broken. There is still some resilience in his damaged eyes. Then there is also the collar._

The addition of the collar added a whole new set of problems. There were not many that knew how to work with the slave collars that were banned by his father hundreds of years ago. 

_Naraku had to have had help with the black magic._ His thoughts were interrupted as the servant girl began to rinse out his hair with the warm water. 

Then a thought came across Sesshomaru's mind that shook him. _Why do I care about this hanyou? Why do I have this feeling to lock him away so nothing more can harm him? I do not know him. This is ludicrous. I can't explain these feelings._

  
  


Sesshomaru strode into the guest room, dressed in a clean set of robes. Inu no Taisho was still seated on the far side of the room in one of the two armchairs. Sesshomaru walked over and sat down in one as well. 

Yasahiro was still working on the hanyou. There was a large amount of blood on the sheets surrounding the hanyou. There were bloody towels and a lot of containers with medications and salves. Sesshomaru thought it best not to interrupt the doctor while he was still working on the fragile patient. 

It was a good ten minutes before the doctor sighed and beckoned the servants to change the bedding under the hanyou so that he would rest in a clean bed. Sesshomaru noticed that there weren't many places on the hanyou that weren't covered in bandages. There were even bandages wrapped around the boy's head to shield his eyes. 

With the hanyou finally placed in the clean bed, it looked as if the sheets and the bed were swallowing the tiny hanyou. The bed really showed how small and vulnerable the hanyou truly was. Sesshomaru suppressed a small feeling of rage at the thought of someone hurting a child so small in such a volatile way. 

The doctor then walked over to the two Lords and pulled up his stool, ready to give his report. 

"You are not going to like what I have to say, My Lords." Yasahiro said as he sighed and sat onto his stool. 

"Rest assured Yasahiro, I do believe that you have done what you could for the young hanyou. Just please report all of what you have found." Inu no Taisho assured. Both he and his son were already prepared for the worst considering the collar. 

"Well, where to begin? Starting from severity. I am sure that the both of you have noticed the collar that the hanyou has on him. I do not have much experience with the deeper workings with the collar, but I have basic knowledge. It is a collar that reacts to the aura of the master. The one wearing the collar receives electric shocks if the master shows emotions that revolve around anger or sadness. I think that there are rewarding sensations that are given to the collar for feelings of content. I think that it also reacts to comforting auras, but I have not seen any master use that on a servant. It goes against why the collar was put on in the first place." Yasahiro let out a large sigh. "The collar can also be used as a way to carry out direct orders. For example if the master mentions that they order them to do something the slave cannot resist. I feel that there are a lot of things that the hanyou was ordered to do." 

"I am under the impression that his previous master had used the hanyou as a sex slave." Sesshomaru said through gritted teeth. Inu no Taisho's grew upset as well but kept his emotions to himself. He needed to let Sesshomaru take control of this or the boy would lose interest in the hanyou. It wasn't about the hanyou's life for Taisho so much, it was more for the transformation of his son that he hoped the hanyou would incite. 

"Unfortunately there is too much evidence for sexual abuse. There is evidence to a large amount of rectal tearing that shows that this has been going on for years. There are bite marks littering the hanyou's body and there were hand shaped bruises around the hanyous hips and wrists. His teeth were also extracted from his mouth. Due to the scarring from his gums this has happened quite a bit. In most sex servants, their teeth are extracted so that they can pleasure their masters more during oral sex. This also eliminates the possibility of biting. Teeth do not take much to grow back, even for half demons, but it still may be a good week or two before they start to come back in." Yasahiro was hesitant to admit this to the young Lord, but this was his job. 

Sesshomaru growled. "Continue with all that you have found." 

Yasahiro nodded and cleared his throat nervously. "The boy is severely dehydrated and malnourished. His right hip had also been dislocated. He has a fractured arm and four broken fingers. The word "worthless" has been branded onto the hanyou's stomach, I guess to mark him. There were countless lacerations and bruises. There are at least ten ribs that needed to be broken again due to the fact that they had not healed correctly when they were broken the first time. His ear was physically cut in half. I have stitched it up. I believe that it will heal nicely though. The blade must have been sharp because the cut was straight. The hanyou's feet are also a major problem. The thorns that were in his feet were from a plant that is irritating for demons. It is not a strong irritant, but it slows down the healing process in his feet a bit more. It also made the area around the holes in his feet inflamed and infected. In order to heal his feet, you would need to cut around the hole of his wound every couple of days to try to get the majority of the irritating toxins out. It will take a couple of months, even with what little healing powers he has to fix his feet. His eyes are a different story. His pupils were carved out of his eyes. I managed to clean them out. They were severely infected, and they were covered in painful scar tissue. By getting rid of the scar tissue it will help some, but no amount of healing will give him his sight back. Since his pupils were completely taken out rather than damaged, the boy's eyes will not be able to heal themselves. He will be blind for the rest of his life. The infection has also caused a rather grave fever." 

Yasahiro stopped to see if there were any questions about what he was saying. Sesshomaru was still as angry as ever and was trying to hold back from openly growling and smashing everything in the room. "Does the hanyou not have any power to heal himself?" Sesshomaru asked. 

"It appears that the collar may be suppressing the majority of the boy's demon power. The only traces of demon I see in the boy are his ears, claws, I am guessing he has fangs, and there is a slight healing power. It is far better healing ability than that present humans but still low for a common hanyou. Without the collar, he probably has ten times that power." 

"The hanyou could not talk when I first found him. Is his voice damaged?" Sesshomaru asked. It was bad enough that the hanyou was blind, but he had no idea what to do if the hanyou could not talk on top of that. 

"It appears that the hanyou has not used his voice for a very long time. My guess is that his master had stopped him from talking quite some time ago. There is no damage, but there is a possibility that he will need to be taught how talk again. Though there is no guarantee that the process would be a quick one. He will need constant supervision. He will no doubt be traumatized by the entire event. I am unsure how deeply rooted his submission is. Judging by the countless injuries and his age, it will be a quite difficult road for him. He would have nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks. Because of these attacks he may revert back a couple years in childhood. He might show signs of bedwetting. His feet alone mean that he needs to be carried around to avoid trauma to his feet. Without his vision it may be hard for him to get out of his traumatic episodes because he will not be able to see what is around him. I truthfully don't think that he can be of any use." 

"What are you trying to say?" Sesshomaru growled. Inu no Taisho was having a hard time staying quiet. He knew what the doctor was trying to imply. 

"He will not be able to serve the castle any. It will be impossible to train him as a fighter or anything else. He needs coddling, and I cannot think of a single occupation that the boy would be good for besides for pleasure." Yasahiro flinched as he felt Sesshomaru's aura spike at the comment. 

At the sudden spike of aura the sounds of whimpers were heard from the bed. The hanyou had not woken up but was terrified of the sudden spike in murderous aura. Sesshomaru quickly hid his murderous youki and exhaled. 

"How dare you think that I would allow something as that to happen!" Sesshomaru's face showed his rage. 

"The biggest problem that we face now is the collar, right Yasahiro?" Inu no Taisho interrupted. He wanted to change the topic and fast before Sesshomaru lost it and killed the old doctor. 

"Yes. It seems that there is a failsafe that was put in place with the collar. It appears that it is starting to leak a poison into his system. My guess is that if the Master is a certain distance away from his slave the slave will slowly be poisoned. I am assuming there is only some time before the Master will start to increase the process or find a different way to kill the young slave." Yasahiro admitted. 

Sesshomaru got up from his chair and walked over to the bedside of the hanyou. There were purple veins that were sprouting underneath the hanyou's skin and it seemed to be coming from the skintight collar. His breathing was labored under the heavy weight of the pained fever. His tiny hands were grasping the sheets in his fists in pain. 

_What am I supposed to do? Do I really want to bother with this child? What can I possibly gain from it?_

Inu no Taisho could sense that Sesshomaru was deep in thought and at war with himself over what to do with the young hanyou. Maybe he needed to coax the decision a little more. He knew that the hanyou would never be able to be a slave, but maybe Sesshomaru could find a use for him. It didn't matter what his son did with the damaged child. He just needed to make sure that his son would actually take responsibility and grow up a little bit. 

"Well, it appears it would be better if we just let the poor thing die." Inu no Taisho sighed half-heartedly in his chair. Sesshomaru stiffened a little but did not say anything. 

Inu no Taisho smirked a little bit. His son was in fact growing attached to the poor damaged thing. He wanted to get Sesshomaru to blow up so that he could be given some sort of sign that his son actually cared for something. What happened next surprised him. 

"Can the ownership of the collar be transferred, Yasahiro?" Sesshomaru asked quietly. There was no rage or malice in his voice. Just a stoic seriousness in his answer. 

"I believe that there may be a way to change ownership of the collar. As you probably guessed, there is no way to get rid of the collar without killing the hanyou. You would need to find his master or someone in his court that has helped with the creation of the collar." Yasahiro was still shocked that the Young Lord was even placing himself in the same room as a hanyou. He looked to Inu no Taisho with a questioning look, but received one in return. 

"We need to find one of Naraku's servants and get them here to give some information." Sesshomaru sighed. His eyes never leaving the boy. 

"Naraku!" Yasahiro exclaimed in total shock. "That half-wit did this?!" At the raising voice, the hanyou began to stir a little in irritation to the loud noise. Sesshomaru frowned and turned to Yasahiro. "Oh excuse me Young Lord, but I feel as if we may have some luck after all." 

Sesshomaru arched his eyebrow in question, but was then sidetracked as a little hand reached out and grabbed his sleeve. Yasahiro gasped at the audacity of the hanyou. Everyone knew that Sesshomaru was not one to be touched. The grab was not powerful, but it was enough to grab Sesshomaru's attention. His eyebrows shot up as he looked to the trembling hanyou. 

"It is I, Lord Sesshomaru, hanyou. Rest now. You will not go back to that monster." Sesshomaru barely breathed out so that the other two in the room could not hear what exactly was being said. The hanyou smiled lightly, nodded subtly, and let go of the Lord as tears began to stream out from underneath the bandage that was covering his eyes. 

The other two had no idea what had transpired between the two and both were very confused on why the young hanyou was so relieved at whatever Sesshomaru had mumbled. "What is the luck, Yasahiro?" Sesshomaru asked looking over his shoulder and startling the doctor. 

"W-well, there are rumors of a monk that was cursed by Naraku. Some are reporting that the monk went against Naraku and he was punished by have a dark wind tunnel placed in the palm of his hand that will eventually engulf him and kill him." Yasahiro looked over to Inu no Taisho for confirmation. 

"It is true Sesshomaru. On the last trip the sixth battalion took to the northeast, some of our men were lost to the monk and his hand. He was protecting a human village in the mountains by Shigakura. He is still there if I am not mistaken. I am unsure how much he knows, but he is the best person that we could possibly get for this situation." Inu no Taisho got up from his seat and made his way to the doorway. He knew his son was planning on going off right away. "Time is a factor son, his name is Miroku. Be careful and do not harm him." 

Sesshomaru stayed quiet and continued to look at the hanyou once more before striding to the window, materializing into a ball of light and flying off to find the young monk. 

Yasahiro looked to the hanyou still amazed that the kid had managed to find what others thought had not existed, Sesshomaru's compassion. 

  
  


What was normally a week's journey on foot was only a two hour flight for Sesshomaru. When he landed in the human village, the humans were shocked. Never had they seen such an elegant and powerful demon. Villagers shrieked and all were running far from where the young Lord landed. 

Finally he saw one human wearing purple and blue robes approaching him. 

"You are not an ordinary demon. What business could you have in a village such as this?" The human asked. 

Sesshomaru look him over. He noticed that this must be the human that he was supposed to ask for assistance. 

"I am Sesshomaru. The Dog Demon Prince of the Western Lands. I seek a human by the name of 'Miroku' for a favor." Sesshomaru spoke with no emotion in his voice. 

The human frowned. "What business do you want with me?" Sesshomaru was right. 

"Where you once owned by a demon named Naraku?" Sesshomaru asked. 

Miroku was beginning to get riled up. "Why should I tell you?!" 

The aura around them was starting to darken. Surely Miroku was not even considered a threat to Sesshomaru. 

"Never in my life would I ever have imagined asking a _human_ for assistance. I have recently rescued a hanyou from Naraku-" Sesshomaru was cut off by a sharp gasp from Miroku. 

"A hanyou?!" His eyes were terrified. "Is he young? Does he have white ears?" Miroku was talking fast. 

"You know this hanyou?" Sesshomaru still did not give off any indication of surprise. 

"Is he safe?!" Miroku was breathing fast, obviously worrying about the hanyou. 

"That is why I am here. Are you aware of the collar that placed on the child?" Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, demanding an answer. 

Miroku nodded. "Yes, my father was the one that was forced to place it on the hanyou. Is that what this is about?" 

Sesshomaru nodded. "I would like for you to come back to the castle with me. I can assure your protection within the castle. I am aware that the collar cannot be removed so I would like you to transfer the ownership of the collar. Also, I know that you are not stupid. If I managed to find you, there is no doubt that Naraku will send someone after you. He is without a doubt also thinking that you will be able to help the hanyou." 

Miroku tried to weigh his options in his head. He stumbled across a disturbing idea and his eyes narrowed. "You will not use him for pleasure, right?" 

Miroku regretted that question when Sesshomaru's aura turned murderous. "How dare you." The voice was cold and calculating. 

"Wait! I'm sorry! I was just making sure!" Miroku screamed in fear of his life being ended on the spot. The aura began to shrink back dully. "I will go with you. I don't trust you, but I owe it to the hanyou. I couldn't save him then, so I want to save him now." 

Sesshomaru held out his hand and summoned a cloud beneath his feet before grabbing the monk, much to both of their displeasure, and taking off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say thank you to all the readers that support me. I deeply apologize that I have not been giving this story a good amount of attention. I am currently wrapping up my Master's degree. I am writing my thesis and should hopefully be done with it by March. I have planned out this entire story and plan to continue it when I am finally free from school. I promise that it will not be abandoned. I will continue to update on ao3, and then will push out new content after March. Thank you for being patient!!


	3. Chapter 3

There were oncoming storm clouds polluting the night sky by the time Sesshomaru and Miroku landed back at the castle. With luck they were able to beat the rain as the sky opened up. "Well that's a bad omen," Miroku mused as they started walking down the candle lit entryway.

The wind was beginning to pick up causing the candles to flicker. Sesshomaru paid no mind to the monk while he led the way to the hanyou's room. He was unsure what condition the hanyou was going to be in. They continued walking and the monk proceeded to continue to try to strike up a conversation. "It is a good thing that the hanyou most likely isn't lucid."

This got Sesshomaru's attention. He looked at the monk almost daring the monk to say something bad about the hanyou after he just travelled to bring the monk to assist with him. Miroku saw the intense glare Sesshomaru gave and cleared his throat. "He…um…he's terrified of thunderstorms, the poor thing. I think the thunder is way too much of a stimulus for his hypersensitive hearing."

Sesshomaru processed what the monk said and stopped glaring at him, focusing once again on the candlelit grand hallway.

"Naraku was a cruel master…" Miroku drifted off lost in thought.

 _Figures when the stupid human begins to talk of something of interest he shuts up._ Sesshomaru growled in annoyance. He knew that the monk would be able to provide some information on the hanyou's life. Sesshomaru finally stopped in front of the door to the hanyou's room.

Before Sesshomaru opened the door he turned to Miroku. "You were brought here to treat the hanyou and to find a way to either remove the collar or transfer the ownership. Your safety will depend on your degree of success. For right now you will be focused on the hanyou's wellbeing. If the hanyou survives then you survive and will be sheltered from Naraku. You will report all of your findings to my doctor Yasahiro and to me as well." Miroku was left nodding in intimidation. The Prince was terrifying and Miroku was terrified to even breathe.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes as he looked down on the human. "Do not forget your place human." He growled low in a subtle threat. "If the hanyou pulls through, you will fill me in on ALL that I should know about him." Sesshomaru continued to glare as Miroku gulped and nodded. Miroku was beginning to understand what he was getting himself into. If the hanyou did not live then this would be the end of the road for him.

Sesshomaru opened the door to show Yasahiro at the hanyou's bedside. The hanyou was thrashing and having a fit on the bed. His mouth was open, gasping for air, giving off silent screams. Yasahiro was trying to hold down the child's limbs to prevent him from injuring himself any further.

"What is wrong?" Sesshomaru asked while he got closer to the bedside.

"Monk, grab his legs but mind the bandages!" Yasahiro ordered, too caught up in trying to help the hanyou.

Miroku moved over as instructed. The hanyou continued to thrash even more. "He is burning up!" Miroku was shocked. He knew that the hanyou would be in bad shape but never would have guessed that he would find him in this condition.

"When you left, my Lord, his anxiety started to go up and he began to panic. He has been having panic attack after attack which is putting strain on his injuries and making the poison spread faster." Yasahiro was struggling to keep the hanyou's arms down. Sesshomaru was watching the two of them struggle against the poor hanyou. "His fever is also going up with all this thrashing and his fits."

Sesshomaru stepped closer to the bed and placed his hand against the hanyou's feverish cheek and stroked it. He released a small amount of calming aura as he did so. The hanyou stopped thrashing violently but continued to tremble in pain. He leaned into the Lord's hand that was now cupping his small face. He began to tremble harder and his face scrunched up while tears began to heavily fall from beneath the bandages that were wound around his small head, covering his eyes.

The hanyou continued to quietly sob while Sesshomaru carefully used his thumb to wipe off some of the tears that were cascading down the hanyou's face. Yasahiro and Miroku let go of the hanyou's limbs when Sesshomaru gave them each a frightening glare. "Leave us." Sesshomaru demanded.

His tone left no room for debate. Miroku and Yasahiro looked at each other before hurriedly taking leave from the room. The only sound that remained in the room was the sound of the hanyou quietly sobbing. It was barely there and not loud enough to be silenced by the collar.

"Hanyou." Sesshomaru called. The hanyou froze and his breath hitched. His cheek was still pressed against Sesshomaru's cool palm. The hanyou's heart rate seemed to calm down with the small surges of the comforting aura Sesshomaru was giving off.

"Were you afraid that I left you, little one?" Sesshomaru said in a low tone. He did not want any eavesdroppers to hear this new and gentle nature that he had seemed to unearth from within himself.

The hanyou began to tremble again as he nodded. His face still remained scrunched and the tears began to flow more rapidly. Sesshomaru sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I told you that I will make you mine, hanyou." He removed his hand from the hanyou's face and began to run his dainty clawed fingers through the hanyou's white locks, mindful of his injured ear.

The hanyou continued to cry but slowly began to calm down with the petting. "I had to find someone who knows more about the collar. That is why I left." The hanyou slightly tilted his head in confusion like a puzzled puppy. "He is a monk by the name of Miroku that was exiled from Naraku's palace."

Sesshomaru did not fail to notice the flinch and the increase in trembling at the name of the bastard Lord. Sesshomaru had no explanation of why he was telling all of these things to the frightened hanyou. He had no idea why the sight of the miserable child tugged at his cold heart. Truthfully he was confused on how anyone could be so cruel to someone so young and innocent. Sesshomaru was not against the use of slaves for sexual enjoyment but he truly believed that they should at least be old enough to feel some pleasure or understand what was happening. The removal of his teeth, voice, and movement was also going way too far. The hanyou was way too young to be used in that manner. He appeared to have the human age of six to seven years. Naraku's actions were unforgivable besides the cruelty of the collar.

Sesshomaru still did not like the reaction that the hanyou gave at the mention of the monk. Wouldn't the hanyou be relieved to see him? Did the hanyou even know him?

"Do you know the monk named Miroku?" The hanyou's breathing hitched and he started to get upset again. The hanyou's heartbeat quickened and he started to sob again. Sesshomaru's aura darkened and the hanyou whimpered and tried to move away from him.

Sesshomaru placed his hands on either side of the child's face to trap him. The hanyou's breath hitched again and he continued to try to get away from the Prince. "Hanyou did the monk ever hurt you?" Sesshomaru asked. His tone was impassive.

The hanyou was still frozen in fear of the threatening aura that was consuming the room. He then leaned down and put his mouth closer to the hanyou's good ear and growled. "Answer me."

The hanyou shivered at the rush of hot air on his ear before he shook his head back and forth. If the terrified hanyou was telling the truth then why did the hanyou react that way? Sesshomaru gave a small grunt and went to move away. The hanyou once again stopped him by grabbing onto his robes.

"I will not leave hanyou, but you must cooperate and let the others try to help you, understand?" The hanyou nodded slowly but did not remove his tiny hand from the Prince's sleeve. He could tell that the hanyou was losing his strength as his grip was lessening. The fever was taking over as the adrenaline the anxiety gave him was fading away.

"Sleep little one. I have told you that I will not leave you again." Sesshomaru sat back down at the edge of the bed with the hanyou's tiny hand still weakly holding onto his sleeve. The hanyou gave Sesshomaru a small toothless smile before passing out. Sesshomaru listened to the poor hanyou's ragged breathing. He took the hanyou's hand off of his robes and placed it next to the hanyou's side gently. He adjusted the blankets on the hanyou to make him more comfortable. He had no idea if the hanyou was even going to survive the night.

After a good five minutes of listening to the hanyou's soft snores he called the monk and the doctor back into the room. Miroku took a seat in one of the chairs in the corner of the room and Yasahiro went over to the hanyou to check him over.

"He finally passed out not too long ago. His anxiety and fever are both still high." Sesshomaru reported. He was beginning to feel like the hanyou would not make it to be able to even try to have the collar ownership transferred.

"His fever is steady now and hasn't spiked any further it appears. His heart rate is down. Having you here my Lord has definitely done wonders for the child. He has latched himself onto you." Yasahiro moved to join the monk on one of the armchairs across from the bed.

"Well, my father was the one that placed the collar on the hanyou. I was there for when my father would do maintenance on it. When Naraku had him ordered to be killed the responsibility fell on me to learn about the collar. With the right amount of research in my father's notes I may be able to figure out how he did it." Miroku reached into the pocket of his robe to find a small black book.

"Unfortunately my father had his notes written in a code. I may be able to break it in a couple of hours." Miroku was terrified. If he failed to help the hanyou then that meant the end of his life as well.

"That is wonderful. At least we have a lead, but you may want to hurry. Time is of the essence. I give the hanyou a day or two max." Yasahiro confirmed as he sighed and leaned back into the plush armchair.

"I am afraid that we have even less than that." Miroku announced. He looked down at the ground with a solemn look on his face. "The hanyou is human on every new moon night. With his current condition I feel that the transformation into his weaker self will kill him." Yasahiro gasped and Sesshomaru remained impassive.

"Then I suggest you get to work, monk." Sesshomaru growled. Miroku looked up at the prince nervously and nodded before grabbing the black book and fleeing the room to find a place to work.

Miroku wandered off to a secluded guest room in the immense castle. He remained close enough that he could be summoned if the hanyou's condition worsened.

After a good hour of reading over the text he realized that none of it had made sense to him. His head was starting to hurt from the deep concentration. Miroku rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes trying to think back to memories of his father for any clues of how to decode the text. 

_Ten years ago…_

_Young Miroku was running around in the open field that was located next to the small shack that he and his father lived in. He was nine and was eager for his father to come home. His father was summoned up to the castle to check on one of the Master's pets._

_Miroku wondered what kind of pet the Master had. He hoped that it would be a cute cat or a fluffy dog. His father was called up to the castle every other day to check on the pet. It must have been very sick for his father to have to go up to the Master's chambers. Miroku wondered why the pet wasn't just brought to their quarters._

_Whenever he asked his father about it his father always changed the subject and looked sad. He did not want to talk about the pet ever. It didn't make sense. What was so wrong about talking about it?_

_Miroku noticed his father walking to the house and ran over to meet him. His father was out of breath and running carrying something in his hands. Whatever it he had was wrapped in a bloody blanket. The blanket was made out of gorgeous eccentric fabric. Miroku could tell that it was from the Master's chambers. Miroku was concerned._

_Before Miroku was able to speak, his father cut him off. "Miroku not now. I need you to run and to get a pot full of water from the stream and bring it back to the house. Tell no one that I brought anything here. Be quick as possible." His father ran past him into the house and cleared the kitchen table with one arm while cradling the bundle in the other. Miroku was startled by the commotion but remembered his task._

_After fetching the water he walked in to find his father taking the clothes off of a small child. Upon closer inspection he found that the child was a boy and a hanyou. He looked at his father nervously as he handed over the small pail of water._

_His father took the metal pail and placed it over the fire to warm up the water. Miroku eyed the small hanyou on the table. He was so pale and fragile. There were streaks of blood down the hanyou's face that looked like tears. The hanyou's eyes were covered by bandages._

_"Father why-"Miroku was cut off by his father._

_"Not now Miroku. We need to focus now on helping him and then we can talk. We don't have much time before Master's guards come to look for him. Master will not be happy when he finds out that his prized pet is gone." His father removed the pail from the fire and grabbed a knife from beside the table._

_Miroku was confused. Prized pet? The Master had a pet human? The answer puzzled him. He knew that the master had slaves in the palace but he had no idea what it meant to have a human as a pet. His father cut the dirty bandages off of the hanyou's face and Miroku gasped._

_The hanyou's eyes were horrendous. They were covered in blood and infectious grime. It was impossible to tell where the hanyou's eyes even were under all of the pus and blood. The smell hit Miroku and he had to resist the urge to throw up. The eyes were rotting out of the child's head. His father looked at the eyes and took in a deep breath to compose himself before he set to work._

_It was a good two hours before the hanyou's eyes were cleaned of the infected mess and the hanyou was bandaged and placed in his father's bed to rest. His father covered the boy in his thickest blanket. He was so tiny. He could not have been any more than five relative to the stature of a human child. It was unsure to tell the child's actual age. It was most likely that he was older than him and his father put together._

_"Son we need to talk." His father gently placed his hand on Miroku's shoulder and guided him to the newly cleaned kitchen table. They sat down and his father sighed._

_"I know that this is going to be hard for you to hear, but I am in trouble son." Miroku gasped. He knew that his father must have been in some sort of trouble after stealing the child away from the Master._

_"This is going to be very hard to understand but I need you to try to be mature about it son. The Master has left the castle for a couple of months to attempt to take over some territory from the cat demons. At the end of those months I will most likely be killed for stealing his precious pet away from the castle."_

_Miroku started to cry as he listened to his father._

_"I will teach you everything that I know as quickly as possible. You must be the one to look after his pet." His father held onto Miroku as the confused boy cried._

_"Father I don't understand, what is so special about the boy? Why is he a pet?" Miroku sobbed into his father's chest as he held him._

_"You will understand that soon enough my son. Just remember these words whenever you are lost. A candle will be able to reveal the truth to you no matter how dark it seems." His father kissed the top of his head_

Miroku rushed out of the memory of his father. "That's it!" He took a candle and held it to the pages of the book. How stupid was he that he couldn't figure it out quickly. His father coated the pages of his book in a special liquid that prevented the text from burning easily. The heat would reveal the hidden text under it. That text would be coded as well but it would hold the right information.

Miroku grabbed a candle from one of the holders in the room and placed it under the page. Slowly there was a crackle and the ink began to appear. Miroku knew that there would then be a trap on the writing that would hold a spirit guarding the text. Miroku prepared himself to exorcise it. Once the spirit was dealt with all was left was trying to decode the text.

It was another hour before Sesshomaru and Yasahiro heard anything from the monk. The hanyou was not doing any better in the hours that the monk was gone. His fever slowly was rising again but Sesshomaru's comforting aura was helping. The excitement of the fits had taken all of the small amount of strength that the hanyou had.

Sesshomaru heard footsteps as the door to the bedroom swung open and Yasahiro jumped in surprise. Miroku burst through the room smiling.

"I found a way to transfer the collar!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on my thesis! Just getting this caught up in the background! Thank you all for your kind words and support! I promise to work hard!


	4. Chapter 4

Sesshomaru sat on the bed next to the hanyou listening to his labored breathing under the heavy weight of the fever. It had been three hours since Miroku had discovered the missing link to reverting the collar ownership. Sesshomaru was occasionally giving off pleasing aura waves to calm down the hanyou if he whimpered and sought for attention like the wounded pup he was.

Sesshomaru could not explain the bond that he was feeling with the hanyou. It was something that he had never felt before. The instinct to protect the hanyou went down to his demon's core. His youkai was dead set on caring and protecting the hanyou from harm as if the hanyou was his own pup. Sesshomaru could not explain and although he tried to question it, he knew that the bond could not be severed. His youkai was refusing to leave the injured hanyou. Sesshomaru had tried several times to get up and leave but the whimpering of the hanyou went straight through him and kept him at the hanyou's bedside.

Sesshomaru was confused on why the hanyou was so persistent to reach out to him and asked Yasahiro. Yasahiro replied, "He feels safe with you My Lord. He can tell that he is dying and he is afraid. He is just a pup after all."

Sesshomaru thought the words over. Yes the hanyou was dying as the poison continued to seep into his system. The hanyou began to shiver as the cool wind from the window came in. Yasahiro moved to cover the hanyou and on a reflex Sesshomaru growled low. Yasahiro froze and backed away from the hanyou and Sesshomaru glared at him.

Sesshomaru had no idea where the growl came from. His youkai saw the old demon reaching for the injured pup and he felt the need to step in. Sesshomaru then moved to readjust the blanket himself. The entire altercation was awkward. His youkai was never so demanding before.

They sit quietly in the room listening to the hanyou's labored breathing. After about ten minutes the hanyou starts to whimper again. Sesshomaru attempts to send more comforting aura, but the hanyou instead whimpers louder.

"What does he require, Yasahiro?" Sesshomaru asked as the hanyou began to reach out blindly with his good arm.

"I believe he wants to be held My Lord. Pups often need physical reassurance from their parents or caretakers when they are sick." Yasahiro explained. He found the whole thing to be confusing as well. Why was his Lord wasting his time with a hanyou that even if the collar was reverted would not make it through the night?

Sesshomaru said nothing but did not move closer to the hanyou. He was refusing the whimpering that was going straight through him. His youkai was getting riled up and demanding that he comfort the young pup, but Sesshomaru needed to restrain himself. Finally the young hanyou keened loudly which resulted in a shock from the collar. Sesshomaru's youkai won as he stood up and got closer to the hanyou to hold onto his small hand.

The hanyou wiggled his tiny hand in the large and continued to whimper. "I do not understand Yasahiro you said that the hanyou needed to be held." Sesshomaru's eyes never lifted off of the hanyou.

"Yes My Lord, I meant that he needed to be held in someone's arms." Yasahiro was resisting the urge to not laugh at the Lord for fear of losing his head for his mockery. The look that Sesshomaru gave him in disbelief almost made the old doctor lose it. He knew that the Young Lord was in way over his head with this sick pup. The Young Lord would be incapable of giving the sick hanyou the attention that it needed.

 _Or maybe not._ Yasahiro thought as he saw Sesshomaru roll his eyes and then hesitate to slowly pick up the hanyou.

"My Lord," Yasahiro interrupted. Sesshomaru sent him a glare as he stopped. His eyes demanded Yasahiro to continue. "Please make sure not to jostle his ribs too much. They are still very weak and can puncture one of his lungs." Yasahiro reminded. Sesshomaru looked at the doctor and nodded before he slowly moved to pick up the hanyou.

The hanyou cried out as Sesshomaru moved him but was relieved to be in his Lord's arms. Sesshomaru moved so that he was sitting at the head of the bed against the ornate headboard. He placed the hanyou flat in his lap with his ribs over his thighs so that they would lie flat. The hanyou's breaths quickened but he no longer whimpered.

His tiny fist held onto Sesshomaru's chest in order to prevent Sesshomaru from moving away. Sesshomaru let out a comforting growl for the hanyou subconsciously to ease the hanyou even more. Sesshomaru was functioning primarily on instinct at this point. His youkai was not allowing him to contemplate his actions after seeing the hanyou hurt himself with his keening.

Sesshomaru began to run his fingers through the hanyou's hair to continue to add comfort. In a low voice, Sesshomaru mutters, "I swear hanyou I will do whatever I can to prevent you from dying." The hanyou responds by giving a small toothless smile.

It was a good three hours more before Miroku had finished the preparations for the collar reversal. There was a large amount of preparation involved in the practice of black magic. Certain ingredients needed to be gathered and certain circles and runes were required to be placed strategically to direct the flow of magic properly.

He walks into the room and bows announcing, "My Lord it is time." He looks up and is astonished to see the hanyou placed in the Lord's lap but a look from Yasahiro encourages the monk to hold his tongue.

Sesshomaru says nothing as he carefully lifts the feather light hanyou and steps away from the bed giving Miroku the go ahead to lead him to the room where the preparations took place. Miroku used one of the many guest rooms for the process and Sesshomaru knew his mother would not be pleased with the runes drawn all over the floors and walls or the fact that the furniture was piled haphazardly in the corner.

Sesshomaru shrugged it off. There were a lot of things in this situation that his mother was not going to be happy about: the room, the black magic, and importantly the hanyou. The hanyou was probably the thing that she was going to lose her mind over the most in the entire scenario.

"Please place him in the middle of the circle My Lord." Miroku asked as he and Yasahiro moved to the corners of the room. Sesshomaru placed the hanyou down as gently as he could to avoid any of the injuries from jostling.

"Now explain." Sesshomaru ordered as he retreated from the circle gracefully avoiding stepping on any of the interlocking lines.

"The basics of what is going to happen is that your aura needs to overpower the current aura that is around the hanyou's neck. That will not be hard to do for you but will be difficult is that the collar is attached to the hanyou's jugular. When the collar is broken his jugular will be severed and he will begin to bleed out My Lord." Miroku gulped and both Sesshomaru and Yasahiro looked at him.

"Would he be able to survive that?" Sesshomaru asked. This process was supposed to save the hanyou not kill him.

"After the collar is broken and his throat is cut, My Lord would need to say a list of three commands that he wants the hanyou to live by. At the culmination of listing the three commands the Lord must give the hanyou a name and force his aura to wrap around the boy's neck. The aura acts not only as a collar but as a contract that ensures that the master has control over the slave's very life." Miroku was unsure about the whole process. He knew that his father's notes were not wrong, but the entire process scared him.

Sesshomaru thought about his commands and the room was silent for a good ten minutes. The only sound that could be heard was the hanyou's labored breathing from the center of the room. Yasahiro and Miroku knew better than to interrupt the Young Lord as he was thinking.

Sesshomaru then stepped up to acknowledge that he was ready to proceed with the procedure. Miroku instructed him to stand on the outside of the circle and had Yasahiro stand near the door on standby the collar was not able to be reformed.

Miroku began to chant and the runes lifted off of the wall and began to dance around in a circle. The circle began to speed up with the continued chanting before it formed a cyclone figure. The cyclone then formed the shape of a faceless demon in ragged clothing. The demon walked along to the chanting. Its steps were in tandem with each of the accentuated chants. The demon then approached the hanyou and stood in front of it. It looked from the hanyou and moved its faceless face up as if to stare at Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru held his ground as the creature then pulled a knife from the runes in the air and offered the knife handle to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru then began to pump his aura into the knife so that it began to glow filled with the raging energy of the Demon prince. The faceless demon then grabbed the knife and swung it over its head.

The knife then came down and with a glow sliced the hanyou's neck and the collar broke. A purple light emerged as Miroku continued to chant. When the purple light disappeared the blood began to seep from the hanyou's neck. The faceless figure then willed the knife away and pulled a strip from the remaining runes that were dancing around it. Miroku began to chant quieter as the faceless demon looked up at Sesshomaru again. Sesshomaru then took that as his time to speak.

"I Sesshomaru, Prince of the Western Lands, claim this hanyou to be my slave." Sesshomaru spoke clearly and made sure that his voice was firm as he continued to will his aura into the collar, never breaking his eye contact with the face of the faceless demon.

"My first command is that the hanyou will use his full healing abilities to heal any of the injuries that are inflicted upon him. My second command is that the hanyou may talk at any volume without repercussions. My third command is that the hanyou will not die until I, Prince Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, allow it to die. I name thee INUYASHA!" Sesshomaru yelled as he put more of his aura into the collar.

The faceless demon then took the collar and bent down and wrapped the pale hanyou's bleeding neck with the collar. The collar gave off a large red light as the prince's aura affixed the collar to the hanyou's neck. The room was quiet and no one dared to move. Finally the chanting began to slow down and the runes and the demon began to disappear. Light was brought back to the room as Miroku took in a gulping breath at the culmination of his chanting.

Everyone was unsure if the hanyou was still alive. Finally there came a ragged breathing from the middle of the remaining circle. Inuyasha was alive and he now belonged to Lord Sesshomaru.


	5. Chapter 5

Sesshomaru sat in Inuyasha's room going over in his head why he shackled himself to the pathetic hanyou. No matter how hard he fought with himself, his youkai would not let the small hanyou out of its sight. Inuyasha was still suffering from the effects of the poison that was travelling through his system. Even though the ownership of the collar had changed, he still had to fight off the residual poison. 

Miroku had mentioned that every new moon night the hanyou transforms into a human and the small amount of demon power that he does has gone into remission. They were wary about his transformation because of the poison and the stress of his injuries on his fragile body.

There were still a couple hours left before the moon rose so there was a sliver of hope that everything would work out and that the hanyou would power through.

Sesshomaru's thoughts were interrupted at a light tap at the door. Seeing that the hanyou was not bothered by the tap he commanded "Enter". A small slave boy entered the room and nervously told Sesshomaru that his parents called a meeting with him in the throne room. Sesshomaru noticed that the boy took a quick glance at the hanyou in curiosity but then quickly corrected himself and drew his attention back at the floor. Sesshomaru waved the boy off who was very happy to be away from the terrifying Prince.

If his parents called a meeting in the throne room it meant that it would be a formal meeting. He could only imagine his mother's reaction to bonding the helpless hanyou to his youkai. Sesshomaru got off the chair and went to Inuyasha's bedside. He carefully stroked behind Inuyasha's uninjured ear and muttered, "What did I get myself into?"

Sesshomaru then called Miroku to come into the room. He was waiting outside for any instruction from the Prince. He ordered him "Stay with Inuyasha until I return." Miroku nodded and walked into the room and sat in the same chair that Sesshomaru had occupied earlier.

Sesshomaru then made his way to the throne room, preparing himself for the arguments that would soon arise. How could he justify keeping the hanyou if he himself had no idea why his youkai was being so possessive. This was entirely new for him. He never kept toys and was never allowed them due to his aggressive behavior. Not only did he take in a puppy against his parents will but he also took in a hanyou at that.

Sesshomaru did not miss the curious and inquisitive gazes of servants as he walked to the throne room. No one said anything in fear of being in the Prince's wrath. Word of the hanyou's appearance travelled fast throughout the household. There was no doubt that the entire castle knew that the Prince had taken in a hanyou.

Sesshomaru paused in front of the throne room doors and took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, then exhaled. He then nodded to the guards that were stationed at the door to open the door. The door was barely open before he was assaulted by his mother.

"THERE HE IS! HOW DARE YOU BRING FILTH INTO THIS HOUSEHOLD." Lady Inu Tsu Kimi screamed from her seat at the top of the altar.

Sesshomaru chose not to answer. There was no reasoning with her when she was in a mood.

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN TOUCH SOMETHING LIKE THAT. ARE YOU MENTALLY INSANE?" She was red in the face as she continued to assault her son with disbelief.

She gave a sigh and overcome with grief buried her temple into her hand, "I thought I raised you correctly. I thought I was a good mother. What did I do to deserve this?" She went on muttering to herself as Sesshomaru rolled his eyes.

His father cleared his throat and countered with, "Is the hanyou still alive?"

"Yes" Sesshomaru answered.

"Does it look like the hanyou will live?" Inu no Taisho asked.

"Yes" Sesshomaru answered once again.

The Lady sighed from her position behind her hand. Muttering "why" over and over again.

"As you can see your mother is displeased with the fact that the hanyou was brought into the house. Am I to assume that you will be keeping the hanyou?" His father asked, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Yes" Sesshomaru answered again.

"WHY EVEN BOTHER WITH THAT THING! WE CAN GET YOU SOMETHING BETTER THAN THAT FILTH IF YOU WANT TO KEEP SOMETHING THAT BADLY! I SHOULD JUST ORDER IT TO BE KILLED!" His mother yelled.

Something about the thought of someone killing the hanyou did not agree with his youkai and before Sesshomaru knew it he growled at his mother. His youkai instincts had taken over for the first time since he was a child.

Inu Tsu Kimi stared at him and growled back, her eyes glowing as she let her own youkai take over. "You dare growl at me! You need to learn your place!"

Inu no Taisho sighed and then released a large blast of his own youki to stifle the other rising energies that were in the room. Both Sesshomaru and his mother were instantly overpowered by the immense energy and pushed their energies back and submitted.

"Now can we please have a calm conversation? No yelling, no youki, and no growling. We are all adults, not undignified children on a playground." Inu Tsu Kimi huffed at this but nevertheless obeyed her mate.

"We will not be killing the hanyou because Sesshomaru's youkai has already bonded to the hanyou. For whatever reason a bond was created that is not disappearing. It would also be unwise to let the hanyou go free because he is under the effects of dark magic." This caused Inu Tsu Kimi to perk up just a little bit at the mention of dark magic. "Am I to assume that you have figured out a way to reverse the curse that is put on him?" Inu no Taisho directed his question to Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru sighed, "The ownership of the collar has already been transferred. I now own the hanyou."

Inu no Taisho spoke before his mate could react. "I thought that was what you were up to. I am glad that the ownership has been changed, but I am unsure how I feel that you have a connection that is fueled by dark magic."

"The thing is even more tainted than we thought" Inu Tsu Kimi muttered under her breath.

Sesshomaru chose not to give into his mother's antics by reacting. His attention was diverted when his father called, "Sesshomaru."

"Yes Father?"

"I hope you realize what you got yourself into. You have taken in a sick pup with a lot of issues. You cannot just kill it when you get sick of it. Your youkai will not allow it. It is your pup now." His father warned.

Sesshomaru merely nodded but he was starting to process the implications of his actions. Why had he agreed to take in such a sick pup? Why did his youkai get so out of control around the pup?

His father then dismissed Sesshomaru and he went back to his chambers to quickly bathe and change.

  
  
  


Inuyasha knew that his master was not nearby. He could smell the human next to him but he couldn't feel his master's energy and it scared him. He began to whimper softly, still afraid of the collar even though Sesshomaru had lifted the rule that punished him for making a sound.

Miroku heard the small whimpers and got up and went to Inuyasha's bedside. "What is wrong little hanyou?" He softly murmured trying not to scare away the fragile child.

Inuyasha couldn't say what he wanted. He still needed to relearn how to talk. He got frustrated and continued to cry and whine a little to see if his master could hear him.

"Don't cry little one or we will have to change your bandages again." Miroku sighed. He knew that Inuyasha was confused and scared. It didn't help that Sesshomaru-sama wasn't in the room.

"Lord Sesshomaru will be back Inuyasha." Miroku soothed. He went to touch the hanyou by his good ear as he had seen Lord Sesshomaru do and the hanyou violently flinched away from his hand. His distress grew as he tried calling out for his master again to come.

Miroku moved away from the hanyou and settled down in the chair again. There was nothing that he could do to soothe the hanyou. Every time he tried to talk to him his distress continued to rise. Only the presence of the Young Lord would soothe Inuyasha. He was a scared pup who needed his master.

  
  
  


Sesshomaru finished bathing and debated whether or not he should go back to his puppy. He felt a tugging on their connection that signified that the hanyou was calling out for him. He did his best to ignore it to try to establish boundaries within himself.

He went into his study to work on paperwork trying to ignore the pulls on his youkai from the distressed puppy. He could not always be by the puppy's side and the puppy needed to know that. Sesshomaru was not a soft person. He did not give into the needs of others ever so why should he now? Right? That was what Sesshomaru was telling himself at least.

A few hours passed as he continued to do paperwork and he noticed that the tugging at his youkai was getting worse. His youkai was starting to get distressed and flare a bit. Sesshomaru willed it down and then debated whether or not he should check on the hanyou. Enough time had passed that he successfully removed himself from the wounded pup to justify him going to check on him, right?

That is what he told himself at least as he got up off the chair and walked to the guest room that Inuyasha was in. As he got closer and closer to the room his youkai began to tug more and more. He could feel the distress that was radiating off of the puppy. He hadn't left him alone for too long, had he?

The feeling of misery was getting stronger and stronger as he made his way over to the room. Outside the door he could hear the pup calling out with small little whines. He hesitated before the doorway. Could he really do this? Was he capable of taking care of an injured pup? His thoughts were interrupted as the whining got more frantic and desperate.

He entered the room to find Miroku trying to wrestle Inuyasha.

"What do you think you are doing?" Sesshomaru commanded. Inuyasha made little noises of happiness that his master had come back into the room. Sesshomaru released a small amount of calming youki to settle the pup a bit.

"I am trying to take his temperature, my Lord but he keeps fighting me. I am concerned that his fever may have risen with the stress." Miroku said as he backed away from the hanyou. He knew better than to test the patience of Lord Sesshomaru.

"Wait outside the doors." Sesshomaru commanded again, still not making a move toward the hanyou that had his arms stretched out towards him desperately trying to hold onto his master.

Miroku got up and obliged, softly closing the door behind him. With no one to witness what he was about to do, he walked over to the hanyou and carefully picked him up. He made sure to be mindful of all his injuries and to not touch his little swollen feet. Sesshomaru sat down on the bed and slowly began to stroke the hiccupping hanyou's hair.

"Inuyasha, enough of this crying, I am here now." Sesshomaru murmured under his breath. He released some calming youki and the pup slowly started to calm down. He weighed next to nothing and that worried Sesshomaru. Did pups weigh more than this? The answer was most likely yes since Inuyasha was so abused he was most likely starved as well.

Inuyasha did not have much energy left from all the crying and slowly drifted off in Sesshomaru's arms. His face was nestled into his chest and his little fist was grabbing at Sesshomaru's robes. The pup did feel warm and that concerned him. Especially with the pup's human night coming up. He did not want the small pathetic hanyou to succumb to a fever.

Sesshomaru sat there still trying to process the fact that he was now responsible for the small little bundle in his arms. Was this how new parents felt when they held their child for the first time? He was filled with a mixture of emotions. The one that was present most of all was uncertainty.

Even though Inuyasha appeared to be the human age of six he still was very much like a toddler. He did not know how to talk and would most likely need to learn how to walk again. On top of that he was blind of all things. Yes his sense of hearing was incredible, but would that really compensate for his nonexistent vision?

Sesshomaru sighed. Oh what did he get himself into?


	6. Chapter 6

It was the night of the new moon and it appeared that the hanyou may make it through it. Inuyasha still had a slight fever but nothing that would leave him incapacitated for much longer. It appeared that his healing powers were starting to help him. His broken ribs and his hip were newly healed and still tender, but they no longer posed a threat. Inuyasha would still be in pain for some time but not enough that he would not be able to get out of bed. 

His teeth were starting to come in sooner than expected. They had not yet broke the gums yet but they would be soon. When Inuyasha has his teeth come in he will be able to eat on his own. For right now Miroku and Yasahiro were feeding him porridge that was not as nutritional as meat or vegetables. Inuyasha needed to put on weight and the porridge was not doing it.

Sesshomaru distanced himself from the hanyou as much as he possibly could. His alpha youkai instincts were hard to combat. His youkai wanted to take the submissive little hanyou and hide him from everything.

Tonight for the new moon, Sesshomaru decided that he would stay with Inuyasha for the night. There was a high possibility for someone to try to off the hanyou in his human form. Not that his hanyou form was any more powerful. The human scent that would be radiating off of him would be too much for some of the lower demons in the castle to handle. Someone was bound to attack Inuyasha if the Prince was not there. By having Sesshomaru in the room, anyone who sought after Inuyasha would be forced to challenge Sesshomaru.

Only Inu no Taisho or his mother, Inu Tsu Kimi, could over power Sesshomaru. He was wary about his mother possibly killing the hanyou, but she had plenty of opportunity to do that regardless of the hanyou's human night. Sesshomaru doubted that his mother had anything planned. Although she was ruthless, she had a soft spot for children.

Sesshomaru headed to Inuyasha's room to stay there for the night. When he entered the room Inuyasha was sitting up in bed eating some porridge that Miroku was trying to feed him.

"Ah! Ahh!" Inuyasha said as he tried to reach out towards Sesshomaru.

These were the first sounds that Sesshomaru had heard the little hanyou utter in the week that he had been in the castle. He froze at hearing it.

"Someone is a little talkative and excited today." Miroku said as he smiled and tried to get Inuyasha's attention to feed him another spoonful. Inuyasha was not having it.

He continued to make little sounds as he smiled and pointed towards Sesshomaru at the door. Sesshomaru attempted to calm the hanyou down by releasing a calming wave of youki. This settled him down some but he was still gripping the covers and smiling.

"How is he?" Sesshomaru finally asked.

"Well the fever is still there but that is to be expected. Yasahiro says that it is due to the infection in his feet. He is waiting until after his human night to cut away at some of the infected tissue that is there. His broken bones have recently healed so they should still be a little sore. He has a lot of energy today because his fever is not as high." Miroku said as he put the porridge on a side table, giving up on his attempt to feed the hanyou while the Young Lord was there.

"I can see that." Sesshomaru remarked.

"Most of his energy will most likely go away while he has his transformation. He will be in a lot more pain then because he will not have the demon healing powers." Miroku remarked.

"Have you seen Inuyasha on his New Moon night?"

"Yes, many times unfortunately. It was during the New Moon nights that I was summoned to take care of Inuyasha. Naraku could not be bothered by his human scent and he did not want his pet to die so he let me heal Inuyasha then." Miroku looked at Inuyasha, saddened.

Inuyasha was still upright in bed, his good ear swiveling along to track all of the conversation that was going on. Sesshomaru did not miss Inuyasha flinching at the mention of Naraku.

"What am I to expect with the transformation?" Sesshomaru asked, wanting to divert the conversation away from talk of their old master.

"Well from what I remember it is more so a physical transformation than anything else. His hair turns black, he loses his fangs and his claws. He will also lose his demonic power, which he doesn't have much of. But he will also lose his hearing capabilities. He will be able to hear but not nearly like what he can hear now." Miroku reported.

Inuyasha seemed to understand that because his ear pushed back against his skull.

"Is everything else taken care of in preparation?" Sesshomaru asked.

"He has been bathed and he used the bathroom. We only had bed wetting when his fever was really high. I think he should be ok. Obviously I can be summoned to take care of anything if something does happen or he needs to go, My Lord."

Sesshomaru nodded. Although he was watching over the hanyou, he was not lowering himself to that kind of care.

The sun started to set outside and Sesshomaru had his eyes trained on Inuyasha.

"Well looks like he is going to change soon."

The sun was starting to set in the background and as the sun set the color in Inuyasha's hair began to change. Once the sun was down there was a tiny human in Inuyasha's place. 

Sesshomaru made no move to go near it just yet. He was unsure what to do. Inuyasha was curled in on himself crying his little heart out.

"Does the transformation hurt him?" Sesshomaru asked.

"No it doesn't, I think he is just frustrated and ashamed. He usually hides on his human night. Or it could be that he feels his injuries a lot more now." Miroku answered sadly. He went to sit down next to Inuyasha since the Prince appeared not to want to move. "Inuyasha are you ok?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha shook his head and pointed to his stitched up ear. Now that the ear had gone into a different form the stitches were ripped and pulled during the transformation.

"Ouch. Let me fix that for you." Miroku grabbed the doctor's box and gently pushed Inuyasha down to lay on his side. He worked to meticulously pick out the leftover thread and to try to clean up some of the ear. The ear was on its way to being healed but with the transformation the progress was reverted. Inuyasha continued to cry his little heart out during the process.

Sesshomaru knew that youki wouldn't comfort Inuyasha in his human form. Humans didn't feel or react the same way to youki unless it was a powerful malice. He waited for Inuyasha to be healed before he made any move to comfort him.

"Well that is the best that I can do. I can't stitch up his ear without him ripping the stitches again." Miroku collected everything and placed them in a trash can inside the room. He then moved over to a basin to wash his hands.

Inuyasha didn't move from his position, instead he took a blanket and used it to hide himself from the two of them. Sesshomaru sent Miroku a questioning look.

"He is most likely ashamed to be in your presence My Lord. He was always told how less of a person he was while in that form by our old Master. It also must be frustrating for him to not be able to talk, walk, or see. It must make him feel even worse in your presence."

Sesshomaru didn't know if he should go over and touch the hanyou in this form. Touching humans was beneath him but this tiny creature was still tugging at his youkai, even in this form. He heard the tiny hitches from Inuyasha crying under the blanket.

"Leave us." Sesshomaru instructed.

Miroku was unsure. "If you desire to leave My Lord just have one of the servants come to get me." Miroku then collected his things and left the room.

When the door clicked closed, Sesshomaru walked over to the bed and sat down next to the hanyou. Inuyasha burrowed himself deeper into the blanket in an attempt to get away from Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru had brought a book with him and he decided to read it while sitting next to the hanyou.

He would let the hanyou come to him not the other way around. He put himself in range so it was up to Inuyasha if he would go near.

Inuyasha continued to cry his little heart out for a good half hour. Refusing to remove himself from the blanket that he was nestled inside. Sesshomaru patiently waited for him to finish. Not acknowledging the fact that he was there.

Inuyasha was confused. Why had his Master not talked to him like he did before? Why was his master so quiet? His curiosity was starting to get the better of him. The longer he stayed under the blanket the more his curiosity festered.

Sesshomaru could tell that the little hanyou had stopped crying a bit ago. He was now wondering what he was doing. It didn't sound like he was asleep. He pretended to ignore him while still curious about what the hanyou was after.

Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. He had to find out what his Master was doing. He slowly peeked out from under the blanket. He tried to listen to see if his Master was looking at him but his human hearing was not as good as his normal hearing. He slowly began to turn over so that he could inch his way over.

Sesshomaru saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and he smirked. The puppy was trying to be nosy. With his eyesight the hanyou couldn't tell that the Prince was looking at him.

Inuyasha waited and got on his hands and knees and began to quietly crawl across the bed.

An idea came to Sesshomaru's mind. He waited patiently for the hanyou to crawl a little closer to him. When the hanyou was right behind him he turned and gave a halfhearted "boo."

"Ah!" Inuyasha said as he jumped back. Then he burst out in giggles and squealed with laughter while clapping his hands. This made Sesshomaru smirk. He had no idea how anyone could hurt a child such as this.

Sesshomaru then moved to pick Inuyasha up, at which Inuyasha gave an "Ooh!" He then sat against the headboard of the bed and placed the little hanyou in his lap. He looked the little hanyou over. His human transformation was just a superficial transformation. There were very few differences in his transformed form from his original form.

Sesshomaru gave Inuyasha's head a sniff, to which Inuyasha giggled again. He didn't smell as bad as normal humans did. He didn't smell of dirt and fear. He smelled fragile and of rose petals. It was a comforting smell rather than a horrid one.

Inuyasha began to mimic Sesshomaru and sniff at his arm. His diluted senses did not allow for him to pick up a strong scent from Sesshomaru and he frowned.

"Do you want me to read to you Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked.

Inuyasha nodded his head and then fisted Sesshomaru's robe with his little hand, making sure that he didn't go away.

Sesshomaru began to read his boring text on the History of Conquest. His father had suggested that he read it. Sesshomaru found the book boring and apparently Inuyasha did too because ten minutes in the hanyou was already asleep.

Sesshomaru smirked again and continued to read on his own.

  
  
  


At some point the book also put Sesshomaru to sleep because he woke up to a squirming weight in his lap and the sound of sniffing. He opened his eyes to find a transformed Inuyasha sitting up in his lap sniffing at the Prince, trying to catch his scent. He was back in his hanyou form again. His good ear was twitching with every sniff. His damaged ear looked better but was hanging halfway up.

"Good morning." Sesshomaru said and Inuyasha jumped back with an "Ah!"

"It seems that this book put me to sleep as well." Sesshomaru said.

He noticed Inuyasha's good ear swivel and he turned to face the door. He figured someone would be coming in. Sesshomaru got off the bed while still holding the hanyou and moved to a chair in the corner of the room.

They were then interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Enter." Sesshomaru commanded, he was surprised when his father walked through the door.

"Good morning my son." Inu no Taisho said.

"Good morning." Sesshomaru replied. Inuyasha sniffed at the new person in the room trying to figure out who it was.

Inu no Taisho sat in the chair across from the other one.

"It seems that the hanyou survived his transformation. It appears that he is doing quite well." Inu no Taisho observed.

"Yes, he is." Sesshomaru replied.

"May I hold him?" Inu no Taisho asked. Sesshomaru was surprised but nodded his head. He then got up and placed Inuyasha in his father's arms.

"Ooh!" Inuyasha said as he left Sesshomaru's arms. He was a little agitated about being handed to a stranger. Inu no Taisho let out a low growl which then Inuyasha turned his neck in submission and Sesshomaru resisted the urge to do the same.

After the growl Inuyasha began to settle in Inu no Taisho's arms. He even grabbed at his robes to steady himself with his tiny fist like he did with Sesshomaru. The entire time he aimed his sightless eyes at Sesshomaru, making sure that he was still there.

Inu no Taisho brought a hand up to Inuyasha's head and began to pet him, mindful of his healing ear. "It has been a while since I have held a pup." Inu no Taisho said as he continued to pet Inuyasha.

Inuyasha seemed to enjoy being petted because he was giving off a small rumbling sound and sinking deeper into Inu no Taisho's hold.

"You didn't come here to cuddle with Inuyasha, father. What is it that you need?" Sesshomaru asked while eyeing his father.

Inu no Taisho sighed. It was just like his son to always get right to the point. "You are being sent away on a mission to establish peace within the Northern Wolf Tribe."

"I thought we were already at peace with them." Sesshomaru replied.

"We are, they need our assistance. They are fighting against the Birds of Paradise and they seemed to be losing numbers each day. It shall be easy for you to help them." Inu no Taisho continued to pet Inuyasha who seemed to be drifting in and out.

"Birds of Paradise, really?" Sesshomaru asked. They were a fairly low level demon.

"Yes, they require help. You will leave at once."

"Yes father." Sesshomaru said as he got up and went towards his quarters for a quick bath.

Inuyasha noticed his Master left and began to whine. Inu no Taisho gave off a rumble again which eased Inuyasha some but he still whined a little.

Inu no Taisho mumbled to the hanyou. "A couple weeks ago Sesshomaru would have fought me at such a ridiculous mission, but you young man have wedged yourself into my son's cold heart."

"Ah ah!" Inuyasha said in agreement.


End file.
